The IT&T conference is over for another year. Not the greatest conference ever, but there were some interesting sessions on SIP and on Ad-Hoc Networks. And it was in LIT, only a hop skip and jump away from the university.

I presented a paper based on Bryan’s masters using slides put together by Neville. Presenting other peoples work is always strange. It is possible to be very involved in the ideas underlying the work and the preparations of papers, slides etc but you still never exactly match someone elses train of thought as to why certain ideas and concepts are introuduced where they are and in what order.

In any case Bryan’s work is close to some of my own PhD ideas and intrests and I think I gave a good presentation and defence of his ideas and the work involved. And given who the audience were, I can say that with some confidence

I met lots of people I knwo from years of alternately working and studying and most of them were quite interested in how I was doing and when I was finishing. I ended up telling lots and lots of people that Sean and I aim for me to finish in feb 2005. So now I suppose I have to.

Mark/Billy/Ronan from our group conspired together to win 2nd best paper prize so kudos to them.

Duke University has published completion rates and timelimness for Ph.D. Students from the 1992-1995 intakes, which would be close to the date I could possibly have started at if I pursued a Ph.D. straight out of college.

Of 41 ECE Ph.Ds. there are still 2 enrolled, 18 having withdrawn and 21 having completed. The average completion time was 5.3 years, although not presumably for the two people who are still left.

So I have been at mine almost 3 years (very almost 3 years, a bit over 5 if you include the M.Eng as well), but am still here. Not too bad I think, compared with a group of people who would have got their B.Eng around the same time I did.